Letters

We would like to say thanks to the residents of Galax for the amazing time that we had judging this year’s Smoke on the Mountain.
We attend a lot of BBQ events but this was far and away one of the best. The judging was extremely well organized and Shannon Dalton and her wonderful group of volunteers took great care of us during the event. It is rare to see a group of folks work so hard to make an event come together.

Two supervisors voted against approving the 2018 Carroll County budget.
Jodie Foster said it best: “There’s a tremendous amount of power that comes from not having to say yes.”
Our budget is unique in that accountability is controlled by your vote. A budget really breaks down to two things. Needs and wants.
In my opinion, our budgets indicate a ratio of 35 percent needs and 65 percent wants.
A lot of good people work in county administration and deserve decent pay and benefits.

Violence and hatred have taken the life of a police officer in New York.
A 12-year veteran, mother of three children, was brutally shot and killed while sitting in her police vehicle by a loser who was released from prison.
A broken system that’s supposed to protect society from hardened criminals has failed miserably.
We look around and see so many innocent lives taken by gun violence. It is very sad. Shakes the soul to the core.

This is a letter responding to the Grayson County School Board’s decision to not renew Charles Campbell’s position as varsity assistant baseball coach at GCHS.
Charles has coached several sports and volunteered on many occasions to assist in others. I’ve known him since he was a young player in rec league baseball, and coached him for more than 10 years. He was then and is now a very respectful person.

Why honor Deputy Bartlett by naming a [Galax] building after him?
He did not reside within the Galax city limits (not a taxpayer).
There are several more that should receive this honor.
One person, deceased, that should be considered is McKinley Wolfe. He was janitor at the Galax school for years. Wolfe watched over the children.
Some who had walked to school (thinly clad) in cold weather were ushered into the school building for warmth.

The employees of the Galax Post Office and the local Letter Carrier Union #3621 want to thank all the customers in Galax and Woodlawn areas for their participation with the food drive that we had on May 13.
We collected approximately 5,016 pounds of food for Willing Partners food bank. All of the food will stay local and be distributed locally.
We thank everyone for the assistance.Margie Crockett
Postmaster, Galax

Do transmission lines negatively impact human and animal health? Mounting research shows we have no cause for concern.
To ensure safety, all electric wiring systems must be properly grounded. Small currents may flow from these grounding points, and are called neutral-to-earth voltages. Some of this is stray voltage that comes into contact with livestock and may cause behavioral changes.
Transmission developers try to avoid and mitigate stray voltage. Usually, this means siting transmission lines a certain distance from distribution lines.

Please remember to vote in the primary election on June 13 at your regular precinct. We Democrats are choosing a candidate for governor and a candidate for lieutenant governor.
My choice for governor is Dr. Ralph Northam. He is our present lieutenant governor. As lieutenant governor he is president of the Virginia Senate. He knows our Virginia legislators and has done an excellent job working with Gov. McAuliffe.

Tuesday is the Democratic and Republican primary for Virginia governor. Each voter on entering the polls requests either the Democratic or the Republican ballot.
The two candidates for governor in the Democratic Primary are Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam.
Perriello served in Congress for the 5th Congressional District. Perriello is opposed to fracking and to pipelines, and has refused to take money from Dominion Energy, which backs fracking and pipelines.

On Memorial Day, May 29, my wife and I were dining at a local restaurant in Galax.
Someone very kindly paid for our meals. I want to thank them for their kindness and their thoughts.D.L. Hanks
U.S. Army, retired
Galax